Rating: 
Summary: I Wish Zero Stars Was an Option
Review: Terrible!!!! Stunk!!! Don't Bother!!!
Want to purchase my copy? ;)
Rating: 
Summary: Forget the rule of hour, the code is better.
Review: The first thing I can say about this book, is that you will like it when you get to page 120 or 150. During these first 120 pages or so, the books only hints at what is going on. Starting around page 125 you start to get an idea about the secret hidden in the Hypnertomachia, a book from the end of the 15th century.
I have to admit that there is character development in this book but at the expense of the mystery and the action. Also the secret hidden in this book pales in comparision to the secret hidden in the code.
Rating: 
Summary: Messy, unfocused - skip it
Review: The Rule of Four has been billed as a book for people who loved the Da Vinci Code - the publicity has been similar in tone, the book's cover design evokes that of the Da Vinci Code, etc. All I have to say is that the tie-in is a brilliant piece of marketing for the publishers of The Rule of Four, because the two books have about as much in common as Valley of the Dolls and The Hours - both books are about women, but past that how much are they alike? Not very, in my opinion. And The Rule of Four and the Da Vinci Code aren't much alike either.
Although the central storyline of The Rule of Four is about codes hidden within an obscure document, I would say only about 50 percent of the content of the book actually deals with that subject. The other 50 percent of the book deals with the backstories of the characters, reminiscences of school life at Princeton, boring exchanges between the narrarator and his girlfriend, etc. etc. It takes 150 pages to get to the set-up of the book's main conflict and by then you have been all over the place. Frankly, by the time I got to page 150 I was disillusioned enough that I wanted to quit reading, but continued on in hopes that the story would get somewhere or something interesting would happen. Nothing of note ever did, and at the end of the book I felt like I had wasted my time by reading it.
The biggest problem with The Rule of Four is that it seems like the authors couldn't decide what kind of book they wanted to write. Do we want to write a memoir about our years at Princeton, or a coming-of-age tale about four friends? Do we want to write a mystery-thriller, or the great American novel? Do we want to write fiction or non-fiction? It seems to me that as an author you should figure out answers these questions before you sit down to write the book.
As it is, The Rule of Four is just a mess. Pages and pages about the landscape of Princeton and the social intricacies of the campus eating clubs, which I am sure are fascinating if you are a prospective, present or past student of Princeton, but frankly I could have cared less. Those sections certainly didn't help move the story along. The book jumps from fast-paced action that's carelessly explained (so much so that it's difficult to tell what has gone on) to long-winded, pedantic explorations of the history of the book's researchers. I never had any idea where the story was headed or what I was supposed to be paying attention to. The book is full of references to things which I imagine are inside jokes between the authors, which just come off as random or snarky, and you can tell the book was written by people not far out of college, because inconsequential things are given monumental importance, like the main character's relationship problems with a woman he's been dating for four months. Come on.
The only reason this doesn't get one star is because the main story is quite interesting and the details are very engaging. The "reveal" is quite clever and was quite a surprise. I wish the authors had focused on the central story line about the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, it would have definitely improved the book and made it into something worth reading.
In all, this book isn't worth your time. I liked the Da Vinci Code - it wasn't a classic of modern literature or anything, but it was fun reading and the subject matter was interesting. There were some plot flaws, and Dan Brown isn't the greatest writer I've ever read, but believe me, he looks like Shakespeare next to Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. Just because you liked the Da Vinci Code doesn't mean you should waste your time on this mess. Skip it, or at least buy it for cheap if you do want to check it out.
Rating:
Summary: A thriller with a little depth to it
Review: The Rule of Four takes us to Princeton University and into the senior years of four roommates. All are working on the senior thesises and coping with their final year at school and moving on with their lives.
One of the roomates, Paul, is working on unlocking an ancient book. This quest has consumed Paul since he entered Princeton. Paul meets the son of one of the researcher of the same book and strikes a friendship. The new friend is Tom, the main character of the book, who is telling the story. We find the hidden meaning within the book and who has been trying to hide that information.
Tom, tries to divorce himself from helping research the book that drove his father, but is constantly pulled back into the mix. The riddles, cryptography, and the hidden story within the book, at times to powerful a force to withstand. One thing seems to pull Tom back from being consumed by the book.
While this book has the same theme as some other recent hit novels, I found this book to be a little more enjoyable. The secret of the book, and the deciphering of the riddles and codes are good. I really enjoyed the characters in this novel. There was more depth to them, and the relationships were more intriquing.
Since I work in and around Princeton, I also enjoyed the locations described within the book. I recommend this book to all who enjoy a good mystery.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong plot, weak characters
Review: These two young writers are clearly very intelligent and well-read, and they have developed a story that is exceptionally intriguing and has a worthy pay-off. Their explanation of the Hypnerotomachia, at least to the lay person, is believable and satisfying. I can't say that I was looking forward to reading about the Renaissance, and much of the mystery involves historical characters, theories, and beliefs, but I found the story well-paced and interesting throughout. Stylistically, they use the device of telling back-story in the past tense and the current story in the present tense, easily and nicely differentiating the time-frames. I remain somewhat skeptical that 20-year-olds could be as exceptionally well-versed in so many historical areas as these characters, which is necessary for the plot, but then again I did not attend an Ivy League school. Perhaps there are people like that, and perhaps the authors are those people.If so, that would likely explain my criticism of the book, which is that the characters are flat and the relationships are lifeless despite the authors' attempts to make them dynamic. Each character is little more than a caricature painted in broad strokes: the "nerd," the wealthy WASP, the intelligent, athletic, and exceptionally moral minority, the long-suffering girlfriend, etc. There was not a single surprising decision by anyone in the book, and the villains were easily identified within the first few chapters. Proctors are described as though they are thoughtless robots, determined yet easily outsmarted. The dialogue is flat and sometimes borders on the nonsensical (try reading some of the dialogue aloud; it's disjointed and confusing, and certainly not how real people talk). The authors realize that tension is necessary for character and story development, but they don't know how to create it. As it is, people come together and drift apart for no apparent reason; two of the main characters have a severe falling-out that is never explained in any meaningful way, while the protagonist and his girlfriend wax and wane with little explanation for why they even bother with each other. Similarly, they do a very poor job providing a sense of location or describing surroundings. The timeline remains confusing throughout, with too much happening in too short a timeframe. For example, I found myself reviewing sections I had just read to see if the characters had really decided to play a game of tag, made preparations for it, arrived at the location, played for a while, got away from proctors by running around in the nude, got a new change of clothes, gone to a museum to admire art, and then attended a Friday night lecture (!), all in the space of about two hours. Perhaps the authors are big fans of "24." If one assumes that the main characters are based to some degree on the authors, one could imagine that they spent much more of their time trying to understand history than trying to understand people. I am amazed that they could explain a real, mysterious book in such a believable and satisfying manner; if only they could do the same for their characters. This is clearly a book that started with a great story, with everything else just being filler.
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